Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Tennis Questions and Answers Part Deux

by Savannah

I know many of you probably think I'm a hater. I did kind of rant about the journalistic ethics or lack there of of the so called tennis media. I got on their case about giving Nishikori Kei short shrift after his epic three plus hour match against the ATP #1 and I dragged them about not following up with Maria Sharapova when she was evasive and dismissive of their questions and wouldn't tell them which hip was hurt so badly it affected her match versus Dominika Cibulkova.

Let's fast forward to last night's three plus hour match versus the ATP #1. This time the man playing was one Grigor Dimitrov, the man the ATP is dying to make happen. Was there a difference in the post match presser? You bet there was.

INTERVIEW
Grigor Dimitrov 22-01-14
Wednesday, 22 January, 2014

Q. Do you think you'll look back on this match as an opportunity that got away or a step forward in your progression?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Well, there's a lot of mixed feelings right now. I'm a bit shattered. It's tough losing that match, my first quarterfinal. I came out expecting nothing less than to win.

All the credit to Rafa. He's been a tremendous competitor, great guy off the court. We had a great battles the past year and now again, and hopefully in the future more.

The one thing I'm really excited is to actually get back on the court in the upcoming weeks and start working and come up to the same stage and try to do it again.

Of course I'm deeply disappointed. I mean, I'm not going to lie. But, you know, in the end of the day I have to take the positives and the negatives out of the match and just kind of move on.

Happy with the situation at the moment. Again, all the credit to Rafa. I think he played a great match. Also his physicality came over towards the end of the match. He's not one of the best, I think he's the best player right now.

Hopefully we're going to have more battles in the future together.

Q. You exchanged some words at the net with him. What did he say to you?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: I mean, I don't want to say what he told me. The one thing is we have tons of respect for each other, again, on and off the court. You know, he just wished me luck and, of course, all those things.

In the end of the day I know I'm going to play him again. We have a lot of jokes here and there with him, but that's great. Of course, congrats to him and I think the team. That's just how it goes in the slams, in matches like this.

You know, he's a good man.

Q. What have these two weeks done for your confidence and belief going forward?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Confidence, yeah, obviously always going to be there in a way. It's one thing you've worked so hard and you kind of get rewarded a little bit, you know, coming to that first quarterfinal to me was, of course, big.

But I had expectations for myself. That wasn't just to go out there and play. So, you know, that's to me the biggest disappointment, the negative part of it, of course.

But in the end of the day, you know, I want to get to that position again, quarters, semis, final, whatever it is, any big tournament. That's my goal. That's why I'm actually excited to get on court in the upcoming weeks.

Of course I shed a few tears, but it should hurt. It should hurt. And it does hurt, so...

You know, I can take a lot of things, but at the moment I'm just a bit all over the place, yeah.

Q. Going into that fourth set having lost the last two tiebreaks so closely, how hard was it to go into that fourth set?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Not easy. Not easy. I felt that he actually stepped up his game a little bit more. Again, his physicality came in even more. He held his ground better in the fourth set.

Even though I felt I had gaps here and there, he was never letting me take a charge of the point or any of his service games. He actually served really good in the fourth. We both struggled a little bit here and there occasionally, but that's in the game.

Again, I think, I mean, it's just different when you play against Rafa than any other players. In a way you know what to expect. Even though you know what to expect, sometimes it still goes his way.

But I'm excited. I'm excited. I think in a way the fourth set could have gone either way. Depends of the start. But, you know, the outcome wasn't very positive for me.

Q. Rafa said after the match that you have all the qualities to become a great champion. Do words like that mean something to you?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: It's nice to hear. It's nice to hear, you know. I'm flattered. But till it actually happens, even if you say it, it doesn't justify the presence [sic]. We know each other, me and him.

Again, tons of respect for each other. I appreciate what he said, of course. But I think I still have a long way to go out there and I need to improve. I need to improve every day. I felt that, you know, those two weeks, even though I haven't played my best tennis throughout the whole weeks, I still felt I've improved.

Actually the work that I've done in the past months, it actually comes in. To me, at that stage, at that point, that's the most important thing. It's good to refresh a little bit and get back.

Q. You mentioned his physicality in the fourth set. Do you see that's an area of your game you still need to improve?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: I think in a way. I think every player, if you just look around, you know, you need your legs. That's basically just what it is nowadays. The game has become so physical throughout all the years. You know only the strong guys are surviving.

You see up in the last eight out here, I mean, all those guys are Grand Slam champions. They're experienced guys. They're strong guys. Of course, everything has to, of course, build up and take its toll until you actually reach that stage.

But of course, I mean, I have areas. I know I have areas that I can definitely improve even more. I think it's just what I have right now is still work in progress. When I come out on the court or in the gym every day, I don't work for the day after. I look in the future.

At the end of the day, tennis is not a sprint. It's a marathon sport. You play five sets here, best of five. You know, it's always nice to see where you're at, especially in events like that.

Q. If you had that forehand again on the set point...
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Go out there now.

Q. Sorry. Would you go the same way? Were you worried about his forehand?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Which one?

Q. Second set.
GRIGOR DIMITROV: What about the first? I'm more mad about the first one.

What can I say? It hurts. You know, I'm happy that I took the decision. Once you take decision, never look back. Same thing in life: you make mistakes, you make mistakes. It's in the past.

Obviously I got to put that in the past. You know, it's just a tough shot, you know (tearing up). It's a tough choice. I'm sure I could have done something different. I'm sure I could have done something different.

But in a match everything comes down to a split of a second. You know, it's whether in or out.

Amazing how they came up with all those questions for Dimitrov isn't it? Why weren't they asked of Kei? Again I'm not a trained journalist so maybe I'm a bit naīve. A man plays another man for over three hours and only one gets asked about his process, his thoughts? Kei speaks English. They know that. He spent time in the States. But it seems to me that all of the "reporters" have bought into the "Dimitrov is the future" meme so he is more deserving of fans interest and time, because, well, because.

And funny, he wasn't asked about his girlfriend.

Speaking of the ladies...

i.eurosport

The now old school group Public Enemy warned told us a long time ago "don't believe the hype". Just before her match against Dominika Cibulkova Simona Halep announced that she would be working with Wim Fissette who last worked with Kim Clijsters. I was a little surprised since Halep had been playing so well but I don't follow her that closely and didn't know she was playing without a coach. Her match against Cibulkova showed that she desperately needs one.
A coach isn't there to make hotel reservations and set up your itinerary. He or she is there to help you handle the pressure not only of a Grand Slam Quarterfinal but also the pressure of expectations.

Some of Simona's fans were already putting her in the top three and challenging for the top spot. Cibulkova dismantled her and yes Halep was tight but she was never in the match. I'm glad to see she didn't go for a "name", that she went for someone who stays out of the limelight and works with what his charge has to help get her to where she wants to be.

That said I was already looking forward to the next match, Victoria Azarenka vs Agniezska Radwanska. I was unimpressed by what I'd seen from Azarenka up to yesterday/last night but figured she would up her game now that she was in the quarters. To be fair she did try. But Aga has learned to add aggression to her "now you see it now you don't" hocus locus mind fuck of a game. And she totally destroyed Azarenka's mind in their match neutralizing Vika's weapons and making her look like a rookie on the court.

The women's semifinals will see Agniezska Radwanska vs Dominika Cibulkova and Li Na vs Eugenie Bouchard. What can I say? You can't count any of these women out.

I've been posting about double standards lately but David Ferrer shoving a line judge out of the way so he can put his towel down defines the tennis "media"'s inability to be fair. If you haven't seen it here's a gif someone made.

Now just imagine the firestorm if Serena Williams did that. A hefty fine, banned from the sport, you name it.
So far from the "tennis media"? Crickets.

6 comments:

you should have heard Wertheim & Haber talk about it on TC. Haber called it a nudge. Wertheim thought it was Ferrer's record as a nice guy. I guess hitting a ball into the stands at a crying baby; calling an umpire a fucking idiot for not making a line call; telling a chair umpire that she has no idea what she is doing because she is a woman, defines nice guy in the tennis lexicon.

The double standards are too much right now and I for one am sick and tired of it. I truly am

Thanks for your added insights here. I have a!so been struck by the weird biases of the media. They have their narrative and they stick with it. That is why I always check out tennis blogs. Thanks for caring enough about the game and taking the time to write. It's good to get a fuller picture!

Grigor and Maria have a 'manufactured romance.' I don't want to go further with that and offend anyone. As for media darlings, they have now thrown the axis darling Laura Robson under the bus and put another axis hopeful on the pedestal, Bouchard! Miss Tennis of the future, according to everyone, LOL. If Wawa gets Fed in the final he will not win IMO due to deep psychological pressure of maybe preventing Roger from #18. Just my 2 cents.

@vw, as a Fed fan, I am sorry to say but there will be no all Swiss final. Despite Rafa's blisters, hinky knees and maybe because he woke up on the wrong side of the bed, he is too much in Fed's head for Fed to win.

So, Wawa won't get Fed and he probably won't win a game, much less a set off Nadal in the final. Blisters and all

Savannah, I remembered you had written about how Nishikori seems to get ignored by the press, and I went looking for which post it was - was it this, or an earlier one?

Regardless, I am now struck by how little attention he seems to have gotten in winning Barcelona. Over at tennis.com for example, they have their little "Racquet Reviews" for many other matches, including Nadal's loss; but where is the Racquet Review for Nishikori stepping in and taking the title? No, they rely on the AP story and that's it. Same thing over at SI.com. I'm sorry to say my schedule forced me to miss watching live, but he is racking up some impressive wins.

Just beat Ferrer to make it to the semis at Madrid. He looked a little like the star of a new TV show, "The Barely Walking Semifinalists," and he had to go through 7 match points to finally convert one, but he did it.